Civil rights leader Martin Luther King
in Montgomery, Alabama, April 29, 1966.
(Photo: JRT / AP)

This story has been posted here annually on MLK, Jr. Day since 2009.

THIS IS 31ST ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THIS WEEKEND THE NATION PAUSES TO REMEMBER THE LEGACY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

“Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, and he has become a human rights icon: King is recognized as a martyr by two Christian churches. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president. King’s efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. There, he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history.

In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means. By the time of his death in 1968, he had refocused his efforts on ending poverty and opposing the Vietnam War, both from a religious perspective. King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and Congressional Gold Medal in 2004; Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. national holiday in 1986,” quoting Wikipedia.


– The Seattle Times has a fabulous 2011 expose on the civil rights giant.
Click here

– The full version of Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech.
August 28, 1963, posted on YouTube.
Click here.


– UPDATE: For the 2016 King Holiday:
* “Internet convinces Mississippi town to properly honor Martin Luther King Jr.”
“In 1985, the city of Biloxi passed an ordinance to officially refer to Martin Luther King Jr. Day as ‘Great Americans Day’ to include figures like Robert E. Lee in the celebration. It took a couple decades for the internet to notice, but when it did, the backlash got the city’s mayor to change the name back,” quoting Twitter.
Click here

* “National Parks are free on Martin Luther King Jr. Day”
From KING 5 TV News, Seattle.
Click here